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The British government promised a thorough inquiry, as did the Piper Alpha's owner, Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. After the accident, Occidental promptly shut down the pipeline that services Piper Alpha and five other platforms, thereby temporarily cutting British North Sea oil production by 12.9%. The losses in export earnings and tax revenues from Piper Alpha alone were expected to cost the British government at least $1.2 billion a year, while the losses to insurance companies were likely to exceed $1 billion. Occidental Chairman Armand Hammer promised a contribution of $1.7 million to a Piper Alpha disaster fund and an indemnity of some $170,000 to the family of each victim.
At week's end more than 100 contract workers who had been refurbishing three other British platforms left their jobs, out of concern for their safety. They knew that the Piper Alpha's crewmen had been given extensive training to help them cope with a disaster. But they also knew that the ill-fated workers on the demolished rig never had a chance to use what they had learned.